The Australian government is lobbying hard for the China-led Asian Infrastructure¹ Investment Bank to include coal among its lending priorities, as the country seeks to defend its lucrative² exports.

澳大利亚政府正大力游说中国领导下的亚洲基础设施投资银行(AIIB)把煤炭项目列入优先贷款清单，该国寻求保护自己利润丰厚的出口。

The AIIB, billed by some as Beijing’s answer to the World Bank, launched last year with a promise to be a “green bank” with an emphasis on renewable power. But with a draft energy strategy due to be published this month, it has not ruled out funding coal projects.

被一些人视为中国对世界银行(World Bank)发起挑战的亚投行，在去年成立时曾承诺做一家“绿色银行”，重点投资于可再生能源。但是，本月将发布能源战略草案的亚投行，目前尚未排除资助煤炭项目的可能性。

With 57 members including Germany, France and the UK joining the lender despite initial warnings from the US not to do so, the AIIB marks China’s most ambitious foray into financial diplomacy³ yet. Its capital is about half that of the US-led World Bank.

由于拥有包括德国、法国和英国——它们没有理会当初美国发出的不要加入的警告——在内的57个成员国，亚投行成为迄今中国在金融外交领域最雄心勃勃的尝试。亚投行的资本约为美国领导下的世界银行的一半。

Indonesian officials have asked the AIIB to finance coal-fired power plants in the archipelago, and other Asian nations are said to be interested. But Australia, with huge natural gas and coal exports, is primarily concerned with preserving overseas markets.

印尼官员已请求亚投行资助该国的燃煤电厂，亚洲其他国家据称也有此兴趣。但天然气和煤炭出口量巨大的澳大利亚，主要关心的是保住海外市场。

“The [Australian] government wants the AIIB energy strategy to acknowledge that fossil fuels will play a significant role in energy generation in the region for decades to come,” said Kate Williams, a Treasury⁴ spokeswoman, adding that their inclusion would ensure that “Australia is not disadvantaged competitively”.

“（澳大利亚）政府希望亚投行能源战略承认，化石燃料将在未来几十年亚洲地区的能源生产中发挥重要作用，”澳大利亚财政部发言人凯特.威廉姆斯(Kate Williams)说。他接着说，化石燃料纳入亚投行能源战略将确保“澳大利亚不会在竞争中处于劣势”。

The bank’s draft energy plan, to be finalised early next year, will determine which projects it supports in Asia. The region needs $8.74tn of investment in energy between 2016 and 2025, according to AIIB forecasts.

计划于明年初敲定下来的亚投行能源战略草案，将决定在亚洲支持哪些项目。亚投行预测，2016年至2025年亚洲需要的能源投资将达8.74万亿美元。

An issue paper published by the bank in October prioritises the upgrading of existing energy projects to raise efficiency and proposes investing in renewable energy, including less-intrusive types of hydropower dam, and advises against any nuclear investment. But it does not exclude the possibility of new coal projects.

亚投行10月发布的一份问题纪要，提出优先升级现有能源项目以提高能效，提议投资于可再生能源（包括环境干扰较少的水电大坝），并反对投资核电项目。但是，该文件没有排除投资新的煤炭项目的可能性。

The paper noted⁵ that fossil fuel production has had “severe negative impacts” on the environment, especially in Asia’s densely⁶ populated cities. “Coal and oil-fired power plants would exceptionally be considered if cleaner technologies are not available for well-founded energy security or affordability⁷ reasons,” it said.

该文件指出，化石能源生产已对环境产生了“严重的负面影响”，尤其是在亚洲人口稠密的城市里。“如果更清洁能源因理由充分的能源安全考虑而不可行，或者价格难以承受，才将破例考虑使用煤炭和石油发电的电厂，”该文件称。

That has worried Australia’s powerful coal lobbies. The Minerals Council of Australia, the country’s biggest industry lobby, accuses the paper of ignoring clean coal technologies, while the Business Council of Australia has written to the AIIB that Australia’s higher-quality coal can help curb⁸ emissions⁹ growth in Asia.

这让澳大利亚强大的煤炭游说团体感到担心。该国最大行业游说团体澳大利亚矿业协会(Minerals Council of Australia)谴责该文件忽略了清洁煤炭技术，而澳大利亚商业理事会 (Business Council of Australia)已写信给亚投行称，澳大利亚更高质量的煤炭可以帮助抑制亚洲的排放增长。

When asked this week about Canberra’s lobbying of the AIIB, Julie Bishop¹⁰, minister for foreign affairs, said Australia had to be realistic and pragmatic as there was a place for coal in the world’s energy requirements for decades to come.

当在本周被问及堪培拉方面对亚投行的游说时，澳大利亚外长毕晓普(Julie Bishop)表示，该国必须持现实与实用的立场，因为在未来几十年满足世界能源需求方面，煤炭是有一席之地的。

“It will be essential for some countries to be able to reach an acceptable level of development to have supplies of cheap reliable energy and given the number of people around the world who still do not have access to electricity this is a fundamental human right,” she said.

“对于一些国家而言，有能力达到一种可接受的发展水平、获得廉价可靠能源的供应，将是非常重要的；鉴于世界上至今尚未用上电的人口还非常多，这是一种基本的人权，”她说。